20 May 2013

I remember watching an advert in recent months that featured Kiefer Sutherland, some explosives, and cupcakes. It sounds like a light moment in 24, however, it wasn’t. It was in fact a YouTube advert (commercial if you’re American) that showed off Sutherland’s comical macho baking style alongside an Acer laptop that I can’t actually remember the model of.

Why did I bring this up now? Well after reading a naff inspirational article explaining that business card ideas are everywhere I decided to find the most obscure inspiration I could find for a business logo - enter the most memorable part of this video.

Check out how Sutherland gets his logo inspiration when rebranding this nerdy kid’s cupcake business:

The explosion of a 4x4 is definitely one of the most random and arduous ways to get some inspiration for a logo that I’ve seen in my time, however, it just goes to show that design inspiration in general is everywhere.

28 February 2013

February has been a quick month but I’ve managed to find 3 favourite illustrators for the month whose impressive artworks have been brought to life through print. I wanted to share their work because their creations are very imaginative, which should help if you’re in need of some “outside the box” inspiration. Also, they’re based in the UK - a bit of patriotism is always fun!

Illustrators have a competitive industry to battle within whilst remaining cool-headed and creative so help these artists out by sharing this article if you’re as impressed by their illustrations as I am.

James Oconnell

Mr Oconnell is a professional all-round creative based in Manchester and his website bio makes you imagine him as the Spiderman of the illustrative world: “I'm a firm believer of using my skills for good”.

The first of his creations that appealed to me is titled Be Good Together and is intended to provoke non-collaborative creatives into working with one another to form something collectively awesome by presenting the message that it does.

His design reminds me of a dream catcher that has been hung, which almost ties in with his theme i.e. the dream that all creatives will one day work with one another.

Carl Koch

I’m a great fan of visual artists who have imaginations that can create an entire fantasy world within a single piece of art. One type of scene that has always appealed to me, since my love of the anime movie Howl's Moving Castle, is the floating island.

What I admire most about Koch’s floating island, titled High Rise Livin’, is the realistic appearance of this imaginary house he has created - similar in appearance to a child’s tree house with the characteristic charm of a vintage potter’s shed.

Created with watercolours, this artwork reminds me of the Disney film Up because of the childhood contraptions created by the movie characters - an association that Koch may or may not be happy with.

Daniel Schooler

I’m not sure if the anime side of my life is running this article but my reason for showcasing this illustrator’s work is because of the connection it has with my adoration for Dragon Ball Z. Rather than explain the plot I’ll leave it for you to research and find out the relevance of giant monkeys.

Schooler’s bio gives great insight into some of the design choices he’s made within this illustration, for example he’s added a depth of field and focus element that you’d usually find in photography by making the larger plantation, which is seemingly closer, blurred and out of focus. Within his bio he explains that he “has a curious relationship with photography” which would explain this combination of the illustration and photography forms (http://www.danielschooler.com/about.html).

Graffiti and tattoo artistry also spring to mind when analysing this piece of art which Schooler again explains are his influences and aspirations.

21 September 2012

Everyone loves an image that can make their jaw hit the floor in amazement and preferably in admiration not disgust. If its that good, some of us will go as far as making these impressive illustrations a part of our lives through posters, wallpapers, sharing them on our social walls, and posting them as our avatars.

Seeing as its Friday we'll take it easy on the cognitive side of things and try to impress you with some great images we like from the web. Without further ado, here's the Inspiring Print collection of impressive, super-dooper, jaw-dropping illustrations.

17 September 2012

About a year ago I had a tattoo designed and inked by my local tattoo parlour and I must admit I enjoyed it because I knew I was getting something that meant a great deal to me. Everyone focuses on the pain but its comparable to life in a way that you must endure pain at times to get what it is that you really want.

It is evident that plenty of people rush into getting them done as a spur of the moment thing, which is great in some respects e.g. if you're on a holiday and decide to do it because it'll be how you remember that particular holiday (if it has a reason to be so memorable). It is advised though that you really think long and hard about what it is that you want because it is a decision that will be with you all of your life. It took me three years to decide on mine.

Searching for ideas on what you could have done can be a long process which is why I've decided to get 10 of the most inspirational tattoos that I like. Hopefully they’ll help you decide on what you'd like to get done. Let me know what your favourites are in the comments below and leave me any suggestions of your own favourites to check out.

Hopefully you've found something you like in this little collection. Let me know what your favourites were in the comments section.

16 August 2012

This weekend I will be fortunate enough to visit the Jelly Festival in Norfolk. I'm excited because there are some pretty good DJs like Alex Metric and Jakwob on the line-up so I'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting who I want to watch perform and when.

I was impressed by the quality of their poster design promoting the festival, which featured the classic circus/ fairground-style font and a host of images that reminded me of the Monty Python era. It's combination of black and white sketch with other contrastic graphic styles also grabbed my attention along with the colour choices. It was a truly unique and captivating illustration.

Following this beautiful visual experience, I started to wonder how many truly unique and creative festival posters had been created this year to promote themselves in the most interesting ways possible. So for your delight, below is a list of 2012's most creative music festival posters.

10 August 2012

Pinterest has been a great way to create mood boards, bookmark influential designs, and create inspirational design sources for other creative minded individuals. It's easy to get lost in the plethora of beautiful stuff that it offers which is why we've chosen 5 of our favourite Pinterest boards which act as a good resource for those needing inspiration for their design projects.

Want yours included in our next inspirational Pinterest board blog article? Leave a link to it in the comments below.

/paulsvo/illustration/

This fantastic selection of illustrations by Paulsvo gives all sorts of creative ammunition to artists and designers whose weapon of choice is nothing more than a pen and some paper...maybe even a graphics tablet too.

/butteredmuffin/inspiring-art/

Inside of Butteredmuffin's board there is an eclectic combination of artistic styles ranging from graffiti, street art through to sculptures, etc. The main image that grabbed my attention is the one shown below.